SATURDAY SPOTLIGHT: The North-East’s season in review

9:04am Saturday 17th May 2008

HARTLEPOOL UNITED

ENDING 15th in League One was unflattering for Hartlepool United.

More was expected.

They flirted with both ends of the table, but a middle finish was about right.

The early promise, and the belief carried over from earning promotion from League Two last season, meant they had a good start and were fifth after 11 games.

But a shabby away record, when they showed the stability of a plate of jelly, consisting of 15 losses from 23 and a tedious run of 12 successive League and Cup reverses away from Victoria Park soon saw them drop down the table.

Home form and scoring goals wasn't a problem, but when Pools were bad at Victoria Park they were very bad. Games in front of their own fans against Northampton Town, Cheltenham Town and Millwall were pitiful.

And the less said about the FA Cup defeat at Hereford United and the March loss at Bournemouth the better.

On the other hand, they twice played Leeds United off the park (only to come away with one point from six), enjoyed solid and exciting home wins over Southend and Tranmere, an impressive 4-2 win at Orient, and scored more goals at home than anyone else in the division.

When manager Danny Wilson picked the right players in the right positions and selected something like a settled side, the promise and ability was there.

When he didn't, it was more often than not a different story.

But if the season went some way to helping Hartlepool become an established League One side, then it's a step in the right direction.

By Nick Loughlin

SUNDERLAND

THE word survival did not figure in Roy Keane's vocabulary this season and he may be the one person connected with Sunderland not to hail this campaign a success.

Twelve years with the most successful club side in England may not appear the best grounding to become manager of one of football's perennial under-achievers, but Keane's determination not to accept second best ensures no player dares return to the dressing room without knowing he has given his all.

At 5pm on Saturday, November 24 last year most of the Sunderland team that left the Goodison Park pitch would not have wanted to make the short journey back to face their manager.

Humiliated 7-1 by Everton, any doubts the Premier League wasn't as tough as had been made out had been firmly extinguished.

Keane deflected any criticism of his players - in public - by claiming it was all down to his team selection.

The response would tell a lot about his players and they may have been grateful the following game was at home to Derby County.

Win they did - thanks to an injury time Anthony Stokes effort - and that ability to perform when it really mattered has served the Black Cats well.

Their home form has been very good with a run of four consecutive league wins at the turn of the year particularly crucial.

Their fitness and willingness to keep going until the end has also been a feature with a large chunk of their 39 points picked up with goals in the dying minutes.

Spirit may have carried them three points clear of third-bottom but it is quality they'll need to push on next season.

By Adam Murray

MIDDLESBROUGH

FOR the second year in a row, Gareth Southgate had to wait until the penultimate game of the season to preserve Premier League status. He would be the first to admit that is no sign of progress.

The departures of Ayegbeni Yakubu and Mark Viduka last summer clearly left Boro shy of two players capable of scoring more than 15 goals in a season.

And by opting to recruit the likes of Tuncay Sanli, Jeremie Aliadiere and Mido, to join Dong-Gook Lee, Southgate's decision not to acquire a prolific forward proved costly.

It was a decision done in the hope there would be more goals from the rest of the team. But the £12.7m record signing of Afonso Alves in January highlighted that he had had a change of thought.

With the exception of Stewart Downing's nine in the league, only David Wheater among the midfielders and defenders within the squad managed to score three times.

And, despite making just seven starts since his January arrival, Alves' sixgoal tally was only bettered by Tuncay (8) and Downing.

If a recruitment drive geared towards strengthening a midfield is successful this summer, it will be next season when Middlesbrough could break into the top ten under Steve McClaren's successor.

An FA Cup final was within reach this season before a calamitous quarterfinal exit to Championship club Cardiff City. Fans will remember this year's failings and improvements need to be made before August.

By Paul Fraser

NEWCASTLE UNITED

A MANAGERIAL dismissal, a frustrating mid-table finish and off-field tensions that threaten to overshadow anything that happens next season. The more things change at Newcastle United, the more they stay the same.

The Mike Ashley era began much as the Freddy Shepherd one had finished, with under-achievement on the field being accompanied by over-exposure for all the wrong reasons off it.

A run of five wins from nine matches at the start of the season - as good as anything Newcastle had previously produced in the Premier League - was forgotten as soon as the club conceded seven goals in back-to-back home games against Portsmouth and Liverpool.

Sam Allardyce was gone after the Magpies tumbled into the bottom half of the table at the turn of the year, with his penchant for safetyfirst football meaning his departure went unmourned.

Kevin Keegan's return sent pulses racing, but the Messiah' had to wait ten matches for his first victory, by which time Newcastle were embroiled in a fullyfledged relegation battle.

They survived it thanks to a seven-game unbeaten run, with a three-pronged attack of Michael Owen, Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins finally providing the attacking thrills and spills so beloved of the St James' Park faithful.

Keegan has inherited the makings of a decent squad, but Ashley's reluctance to furnish him with significant funds this summer could spell danger.

The last two months have witnessed the shoots of a recovery, but if Ashley genuinely believes the current squad is strong enough to compete for Europe next season, he is surely mistaken.

By Scott Wilson

DARLINGTON

FINISHING as the sixth best team in League Two is a fine achievement, but during a campaign ravaged by injury after injury, you can't help but contemplate what might have been for Dave Penney's men.

The critics will be no doubt be quick to point the finger of blame at Penney if Darlington fail to achieve promotion via the play-offs.

But how can any manager prepare for the kind of illfortune the Quakers boss has been forced to endure this season?

Penney's only saving grace has been the loan market, which he has made full use of this season, making no less than 15 temporary signings (though two were Ian Miller and Ryan Valentine who have since signed permanently).

Given the amount of injuries Penney has had to contend with for much of the campaign, it is in achievement in itself that the club is still involved in the promotion race.

The loss of record signing Pawel Abbott has arguably had the biggest effect on Darlington's quest for a top three finish.

When fit, Abbott has been head and shoulders above most League Two defences and without his goals Quakers have suffered.

It is thanks to an impressive first half of the season, in which Darlington looked odds-on favourites for automatic promotion, that Penney's men remain in contention for promotion via the play-offs.

Many view that as a failure, despite Darlington's best league finish since 2000 and the club just 90 minutes away from Wembley.

And as Penney points out, the season could be about to get a whole lot better as Quakers head to Rochdale this lunchtime defending a 2-1 lead.

By Lee Hall

Editor's Choice